The Dynastic History of Northern India (Early Mediaeval Period) v2.c35.28

v2.c35.28

The accession of Pṛthvīrāja III (c. 1179-92 A.D.) to the throne of Śākambharī in about 1179 A.D. brings us to the next period (c. 1179-1200 A.D.). The records of this period seem to indicate that Pṛthvīrāja was the most important figure in the last quarter of the 12th century. His dominions included most of modern Rajputana and extended roughly from the Sutlej to the Betwa and possibly to the Ken, skirting the river Jumna on the north. The activities of the Caulukyas were paralysed by intrigue and dissensions, while the Senas and the Gaṅgas were far distant from the North-Western frontier of India. By his victories over the Cāndellas and the Gāhaḍavālas and his command over the cis-Sutlej districts, he had constituted himself the main barrier against the advance of the Turks from the Indus Valley. If the Yamīnīs could have held the new body of Turks in check for some time, there was just a possibility that Pṛthvīrāja with his undoubted military ability, might have so consolidated his dominions, as to be able to offer an effective check to the advance of the new invaders. But the descendants of Maḥmūd were too enfeebled to be able to save themselves from destruction. In A. D. 1186, Mu'izz ud-Dīn captured Lahore from the last representative of the Yamīnīs, and the Shansabānīs and Cāhamānas stood face to face. The victory in the second battle of Tarā'īn in 1192 A.D., which appears to have been won by superior generalship as well as by perfidy, practically put an end to the domination of the Madhyadeśa by the Hindus. The defeat of the Gāhaḍavālas was only a matter of detail.